Rusty All Blacks score late winner

All Blacks fullback Israel Dagg, left, beats a tackle during their game against England at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, yesterday.

Photo: AFP

A last gasp try by Conrad Smith sealed a desperate 20-15 win for the All Blacks over an enterprising England at Eden Park yesterday.

It was the only try in a scintillating match in which the visitors, largely written off before the game, dictated terms for much of the play despite starting with 284 caps compared with the All Blacks’ 779.

There was little to suggest the All Blacks were the reigning world champions. In their first Test of the season they vowed not to use rustiness as an excuse, but there were few other explanations for performance strewn with mistakes and handling errors.

England, hampered by having at least 12 senior players unavailable, rattled the All Blacks from the kick off. They shaded the home side in the scrums, kicked to turn the All Blacks around — with New Zealand often uneasy under the high ball — and with the ball in hand they played an expansive game to show a touch of class on the outside.

They rocked the All Blacks from the kick off, forcing indecision and errors with a rushed defense while cashing in as the penalties flowed. Chris Robshaw exposed holes around the All Blacks ruck in the opening minutes, forcing them into a defensive penalty as they scrambled to hold their line and Freddie Burns slotted the three points.

Burns, who made his debut off the bench when England beat New Zealand at Twickenham two years ago, added two more penalties matched by three for the All Blacks by Aaron Cruden as they turned at half-time locked at 9-9.

Both sides tested the tryline in the first half. Only a desperate tackle by Mike Brown stopped Cory Jane scoring in the corner for the All Blacks, while Freddie Burns crossed for England, but was called back for a knock on.

An audacious pass through the legs by England’s James Haskell had Jonny May sprinting down the sideline, but the pass was forward. Errors continued to plague the All Blacks after the resumption, with Jerome Kaino knocking on a meter from the line, while Ben Smith came up just short when the All Blacks elected to run instead of taking a kickable penalty.

The second half was scoreless until the 65th minute when a fourth Burns penalty put England ahead 12-9 leading to a frantic closing period. Cruden landed two further penalties to put the All Blacks ahead for the first time — the second after England winger Marland Yarde was shown a yellow card for a professional foul — and replacement fly-half Danny Cipriani landed one to level the scores at 15-all before Smith scored the match-winning try.

Captain Richie McCaw said the team remained confident throughout.

“It didn’t feel like the game was slipping away from us. It was just a matter of putting a couple of things together to get to the right end of the field to get an opportunity and it took a while for that to happen,” he said.

Additional reporting by Reuters

AUSTRALIA, FRANCE

Reuters

Australia scythed through a porous French defense to score seven tries and a 50-23 victory over the visitors at Lang Park in Brisbane on Saturday in the first of a three-Test series.

Australia put the game beyond doubt in the first half with tries to Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Michael Hooper and Matt Toomua to give them a 29-9 lead at the break before Nick Cummins, Kurtley Beale and Pat McCabe crossed in the second.

Bernard Foley contributed 15 points from six conversions and a penalty for the hosts, who may have lost captain Stephen Moore for a substantial period after he suffered a knee injury in the first minute.